When cops use plate readers to stalk #substack #shorts
The short version: Eliza Orlins' clip spotlights a core DeFlock worry: ALPR networks built for 'public safety' are easily turned into tools for personal stalking by the officers who run them.
Our Take
Eliza Orlins, a former public defender known for her sharp criminal-justice commentary, is flagging something we've warned about for years: license plate readers don't just watch suspects, they watch everyone, and the people with access to that data aren't immune to abusing it. When an officer can type in a plate and pull months of someone's movements, the system stops being a crime-fighting tool and becomes a surveillance weapon pointed at exes, neighbors, or anyone else who catches an officer's attention.
This isn't a hypothetical. Flock's own marketing leans on 'audit trails' and 'accountability,' but audits only matter if someone's actually checking them, and most departments have shown little appetite for policing their own access logs. The pattern is familiar from other law enforcement databases: the misuse gets caught only when it's egregious enough to make the news, which means the routine, quieter abuses almost certainly go unreported.
Every camera added to this network is another node that can be misused, not just by hackers or bad actors outside the system, but by the people trusted to run it. If you want to see how dense this surveillance grid has gotten in your own neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back on unchecked ALPR deployment where you live, our take-action guide is a good place to start.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Eliza Orlins, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.